Asli Özelli, newly appointed executive director of AmCham Turkey, discusses the economic landscape of Turkey and its attractiveness for American companies, in addition to highlighting her priorities in her new role and underlining the importance of maintaining the strong economic relationship between the two countries.   What was the motivation behind your transition to AmCham after working for 18 years at DEIK? I worked for the foreign economic relations board (DEIK), a non-profit institution that enhances the Turkish business community for developing business abroad. I believe that after 18 years, a child becomes an adult, so I feel that my time at DEIK I fully flourished and grew into who I am today. With this trust, I had the opportunity to walk into the new AmCham role, a Chamber of Commerce and Business Forum which has a presence in the country since 2004, representing over 100 members. Given the right energy and direction, the Chamber and its members can prosper, and this is my main challenge; putting all my energy into the economic relations between the two countries and help further evolve the relationship.

The US has a very positive perception of Turkey, and they have similar characteristics although they conduct themselves in different ways